Film Review: Mission Blue

The remarkable career and mission of oceanographer Sylvia Earle is profiled in new documentary

In the Neflix documentary Mission Blue, oceanographer Sylvia Earle says, "If I seem like a radical, it may be because I see things others do not." Throughout her career, Earle has explored oceans teeming with life— from studying seaweed for her dissertation to diving at record-breaking depths to behold bioluminescent creatures. But in her lifetime, she has also witnessed the manmade consequences the oceans have endured including the destruction of coral reefs, overfishing, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

The film documents Earle's life starting with her fascination with nature as a child and the effect her family's move to Florida has had on her life. With the Gulf in her backyard, she became an explorer and eventually a scientist which led her to expeditions from the Indian Ocean to the Galapagos to the Great Barrier Reef. That she was a woman in a field dominated by men was often noted by the media who at times questioned how she balanced the personal (she had three children) with the professional, and at other times acknowledged the glass ceiling she was breaking through. Technologies also played a role in her career as diving instruments were developed further, taking explorers to never before seen depths for longer periods of time. Earle even played a hand in improving the design of the manipulator arms on one of the suits, to improve underwater dexterity.

Another important part of Earle’s life was her role as Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where she became known as the “Sturgeon General.” In the position however, she found her voice censored, with politics and bureaucracy stifling efforts at protecting the oceans and marine life. So she resigned, opting for life as a citizen who could speak freely rather than a government official with talking notes.

The footage and statistics that the documentary reveals is telling, from Earle’s grim trip to a Tokyo fish market to the fact that we went from one dead zone in 1975 to presently over 500. The assault on the ocean has led Earle to advocate for its preservation in the form of "hope spots"—areas that are protected from fishing and dumping. Her goal is to get 20 percent of the ocean protected by 2020 (currently less than 3 percent is protected). Although she recognizes the vast challenge in such a mission, she also knows that with "No oceans, no life; no oceans, no us."